welcome to al jazeera america. i'm morgan radford, and here are the stories we're following for you right now. >> unfortunately congress has not fulfilled its responsibility. it has failed to pass a budget, and as a result much of our government must shut down. >> the nation deals with a partial government shutdown. and from wall street to main street, we'll explain how the shutdown affects you and the people you know. up and running enrollment begins for the affordable care act today. ♪

for the first time in more than 17 years much of the u.s. government is now closed for business. hundreds of thousands of federal workings have been furloughed and in government facilities have already shut their doors. congress is still trying to pass a funding bill. something it was supposed to do by midnight last night. republicans and democrats are now blaming each other for the shutdown. >> the house has made its position known very clearly. we believe we should fund the government and we think that ought to be basic fairness for all americans under obamacare. >> it is embarrassing that these people who are elected to represent the country are representing the tea party, the anarchists of the country. >> officially the government is shutdown. that is not a good thing where you are a republican or democrat. >> stand with your country!

do you stand for your country? or do you want to take it down? >> our party attempted to reach out and work with our colleagues in the u.s. senate. >> you don't get to extract a ransom for doing your job, or just because there's a law there that you don't like. >> for the latest on the shoutdown, randall pinkston joins us live from capitol hill. randall is this likely to drag on for a while? >> reporter: well at this point they are at logger heads. three house of representtives lead by the republicans sent to the senate it's a latest version of a continuing resolution to keep the government operating but to also try to defang, if not defund the affordable care

act, obamacare, and the senate, lead by democrat harry reid quickly sent it right back to him. he actually tabled it on a majority vote. the senate is saying send us a clean bill. republicans are saying we want to do something about obamacare. and there's no agreement. >> randall what are the american people saying? all of the polling suggests that the americans are completely turned off by the republicans and the president. >> reporter: one of the latest polls shows very serious disapproval ratings, 49% of the public disapproves of the job the president is doing. 74% disapprove of the job that republicans in the house is doing. and congress is at 60%. so the american public is fed up

with everyone here in washington, and unless there's some kind of deal some way, somehow that attitude is likely to continue. >> you mentioned harry reid, virtually every republican has been blaming harry [ technical difficulties ] >> reporter: what you have had in the past year or so, two years, presidential election where president obama

[ technical difficulties ] >> not much better 56% disapprove of the way democrats in congress have handled budget negotiations, while half of americans approve of president

obama's performance on the same issue. wall street apparently has already put -- [ technical difficulties ] stocks are rebounding today. analysts say investors are betting on a short shutdown which don't do much damage to the economy. and this is the time of day when national parks and landmarks usually bussel with visitors, but not today. jonathan betz is at the statute of liberty area today. >> reporter: a lot of tourists are showing up here, not aware that one of the biggest tourist attractions is now closed. the boats are still running, they are just circling the island. they are offering refunds to people, because keep in mind the statute of liberty has only been

open since the 4th of july. so there is a lot of demand to come and see this monument. we have foreign visitors coming here from overseas spending a lot of money to see this main attraction. so a lot of disappointment and a lot of people not even realizing that the statute would be closed today. 3.7 million people visit the statute of liberty every year in new york city. it adds about $174 million to local economy. it's not just tourists that are impacted it's all the hundreds of concession airs and food stands nearby. >> what about security in the area? who is looking after that? >> reporter: 135 workers that work here, only seven are reporting for work. and the u.s. parks police is in

charge of security on the island. so the statute will remain safe, but no one will be able to get up close to it. >> thank you, jonathan betz. heidi how is the agency functioning now that the shutdown is in full effect? >> hey, morgan. ironically today is the 55th birthday of nasa, but rather than celebrating, 97% of the work force is being told to go home without pay. let me break down the numbers for you. nasa employees 18,000 government employees. 3200 report to work here, and of them only 99 will stay past today. and those essential personnel are remaining to support operations at the international space center. in addition control will continue to be in operation. they are supporting the life and

assets still in space. six astronauts are at the international space station, two of them are americans. any satellites in orbit will be maintained as well. basically the general line is if it's in space now, it will remain in space with all of its affiliated support systems, but any future missions have been postponed. also this morning the parking lots here at the johnson space center were full, but out there this day and even now i'm seeing cars driving back -- just a steady stream of cars leaving nasa's gates. so the employees were told to come just to sign their furlough notices, and they are going home not knowing when they will be back. >> how is the surrounding

community being impacted as well? >> reporter: well, morgan, this community clear lake city, texas exists because of nasa. nasa was here first and the community sprung up around it. every aspect of the area are tied to the economy of workers who depend on their paychecks from nasa, so already we're hearing from business owners and restaurant owner telling me yesterday he is very concerned not only because he expects to lose business, but he cares about the people here. they have seen a lot through the years. and morgan i should mention too about the resilience of this community. in 2011 when the shuttle program was retired that took with it 6700 workers. a was a hard hit to the community, but it has strung back since and most of the people i talked to say they will

survive this as well. >> thanks so much. at the same time the government is closing its doors today, health care insurance exchanges are rolling out across the country. it provides access to insurance for millions of uninsured americans. individuals and small businesses can shop for plans online and each state offers different coverage options based on household income. beesy how many people are expected to enroll where you are? [ no audio. ] >> i'm sorry, it sounds like we're having technical issues. and after a visit to the white house, israeli prime minister minister, benjamin netenyahu gets ready to speak at the un general assembly.

more on that when we return.

and now we're back with beesy who is at a community center in detroit where people are currently signing up for obamacare. how many people where you are expected in enrole? >> reporter: well they are expecting dozens of people to enroll. this is one of several clinics throughout the area that is catering to the needs of people who have questions about affordable health care. right behind me is a certified counselor, and she is here specifically to deal with people who have questions. her phone has been ringing off of the hook, and people have been coming in getting their questions answered. morgan? >> you said you are there with a health-care worker who is signing people up today, can she

tell us about what families can look forward to with these exchanges? >> reporter: absolutely. joining me now is an agreeia bell. thank you so much for joining us. >> absolutely. >> reporter: this is a day you guys have been preparing for quite a while. there is a lot to look forward to and a lot of different exchanges. can you go over that? >> yeah, absolutely. michigan has 14 different health plans that people can choose from and four different levels of coverage. so people need to take some time and think about what their current health plan needs are, gather their information and start looking at their different opti options. coverage isn't going to start until january 1st, so take your time and look at the different options on healthcare.gov. >> reporter: and that is

important. this takes effect in january, so i imagine there are going to be a lot more -- >> i'm sorry it sounds like we having technical difficulties once again. weapons inspectors have arrived in syria to enforce the security council resolution to rid the country of its chemical weapons. the inspectors have one month to disable the weapons, and then they have until the end of next year to find and destroy existing stockpiles. syria is expected to have up to 1 thousand tons in its arsenal. israeli prime minister benjamin netenyahu is scheduled to be the final speaker at the general assembly today. john terrett has more from the un now.

john, can we trust the prime minister will also talk today about iran? >> reporter: i think that is likely to be his number one topic. he hasn't stopped talking about its since he left the airport on sunday. he met with president obama, and he went there with the anticipation of stopping what he thinks is diplomatic nonsense between washington and teheran. he got no concession from that yesterday, from president obama, but the two men did agree that iran must not be allowed to have a nuclear weapon and all options are very much still on the table, including the military option. so now we come to today and he's going to make the last speech of this general assessably. the israelis have chosen to do that, so what that means about how they are going to couch the

speech, we just don't know. but it is likely to be similar to what we heard at the white house yesterday. that the president of iran is a wolf in sheep's clothing. >> john can you give us a big picture for a minute. in terms of stability in the region. do you have undate on talks between palestinians and the israelis? >> reporter: we know there is still ongoing pretty high level peace talks. we were expecting there to be a headline this week at the general assembly. it didn't come in the end because they are locked into negotiation we are told. but the thing to remember is that president obama has put pressure on the israeli prime minister in two ways. first of that he has very definite foreign policy goals,

one being iran, and the other being the israeli/palestinian conflict. he wants to sort those two things out if he possibly can before he leaves office. saying if you can sort those problems out you will get a firm foundation for peace going forward. and iran plays into so many of these things in the middle east where the u.s. is having difficulties, including the israelis and palestinians, because iran could use its influence with organizations like hamas, which is the fairly and freely elected guard, it can use its influence there to smooth negotiations there. >> john thanks so much for joining us this morning. and still to come on al jazeera, an egyptian doctor has offered his efforts to [ inaudible ].

that's all i have an real money. victoria azarenko hi, my name is jonathan betz, and i'm from dallas, texas, andx

and welcome back to al jazeera america. i'm morgan radford and here are your headlines. if you don't have health insurance and you need some, well, today is the day to start shopping. enrollment under the affordable care act starts today, and states have already set up health care exchanges where people can sign up. benjamin netenyahu takes his concerns about iran to the un today. yesterday he warned president obama not to trust iran's intentions regarding its nuclear power. dead lock in congress over the partial government shutdown. just a short time ago the senate rejected a republican offer to negotiate. those government workers with no job to go to, and no way to pay their bills if the shutdown lasts are understandably annoyed. john hendren talked to some of them. >> reporter: this is the sound

of u.s. federal workers everywhere. >> congress get your act together or get out! >> reporter: they are worried about lost income. >> it takes a lot of money out of my pocket and my family's pocket. >> if i was as inefficient at my job as they are being right now, i would not have a job. i think they need to get work. >> reporter: the stoppage hits main street as well, leaving an estimated 800,000 government workers at home. >> i can't do my bills and all, but congress is going to get paid, while we are forced to stay home on a furlough? i don't think so. >> reporter: the shutdowns hit hardest the closer you get to government buildings like this. the 17 partial government shutdowns since 1977 have lasted between one day and three weeks. >> we don't see the government

debt crisis is going to change the hiring behavior of most companies. the only ones that seem to be really thinking about it are government contractors. >> reporter: but at national parks from coast-to-coast, the partial shutdown reveals a dysfunctional nation who's very symbol is paralyzed. the faces of the presidents on mount rushmore might remain unchanged. they are as unmovable as members of congress, but few could see it too faces closure. weapons inspectors are expected to arrive in syria to begin destroying the arsenal of chemical weapons. >> reporter: the 20-strong team will be working to a fight deadline and under extreme conditions. there are engineers, paramedics and of courses chemists. the un resolution says all production plants and equipment

used to fill shells and rockets must be destroyed by november 1st. >> this is quite an ambitious time line, and also the stress on the grown does complicate the mission, so it quite challenging, and this is the most challenging operation that we will undertake. >> reporter: preparations have been meticulous. the inspectors security will be a top priority. the syrian government is thought to have gathered its chemical weapons at two dozen sites, but some are near front line positions. field teams will have to wear body armor and helmets at all times as well as protective suits. >> we are like soldiers, when get orders to go back, we will go back and we will do a very good job there. >> reporter: each will wear a hand-held monitor to test the

environment, they will wear gas masks, as they gather samples and then devise a way to destroy what is expected to be a 1,000 ton supply of chemical weapons. they will also need cooperation with opposition forces. that will require delicate negotiations, and both sides will be quick to blame the other if something goes wrong. ♪ and in your latest business news amazon.com is expecting a big holiday shopping season. the online retailer is hiring 70,000 temporary workers, and that's 40% more than last year. meantime wal-mart is trying to beef up the competition.

it's unveiling its largest ever distribution warehouse to compete with amazon. the facility follows the recent opening of another large warehouse in fort worth, texas. and there's no let up of american's love of new trucks. ford and chrysler are reporting higher vehicle sales last month thanks to demand for pickups. for general motors, sales dropped. ♪ i'm meteorologist nicole mitchell, i hope you are off to a great first day of october. let's get right to it. the northwest we have been inundated lately, and still enough of a disturbance across the coastline. higher elevations in the casc e cascades watch for snow.

portland in the month of september set a record for one of the wettest months as did other areas around the region. as we head to the midwest, the last system that pushed through is moving through the midwest right now. you can pick out a little bit of the frontal boundary, but this has really dried out, so not a lot of moisture, but still enough of a pressure contrast, and that's when we get those winds kicking up. here is a look at the high-wind advisories. i have lived in some of these areas, pretty flat, not a lot-to-block the wind. some areas especially those highlighted could see 30 to 40-mile-an-hour winds. we have enough of a boundary through the south to kick off

some showers. you can see that right now in louisiana, but not too many problems just some moisture we're going to be watching for. along the gulf coast, we want to mention that we have one feature out here, we want to keep an eye on. it's a disturbance in the western caribbean. a lot of the computer models are now bringing this possibly into the gulf of mexico. with the government shutdown places like the hurricane center that help forecast these, they are still running if anything becomes of this. >> a holocaust memorial in jerusalem is posthumously recognizing a egyptian doctor. this is the first time the israeli institution has hon in order an arab. thanks so much for watching al jazeera america. i'm morgan radford.

"inside story" is up next. ♪